5 Things You Didn't Know About Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

Ready to make the sacrifice?

By
Ravi Sinha

Ninja Theory's Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is finally out on PlayStation 4 and PC after spending what feels like an eternity in development. The action adventure title has evolved from a gritty, almost Dark Souls-like game to something...well, darker. A lot darker. Whether you should play Hellblade or not is completely up to you but the sheer amount of work and effort that went into what's essentially an indie title warrants highlight. Let's a look at a few things you may not know about Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice and how much Ninja Theory toiled to bring its vision to life.

A Different Look

Coming from a developer like Ninja Theory, responsible for bombastic action adventure titles like Heavenly Sword, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West and DmC: Devil May, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is pretty...different. We didn't know that at first when the game was first revealed and Senua was introduced as a Celtic warrior out for revenge.

As the game was delayed and changed, Ninja Theory actually changed Senua's look and began to introduce us to the various emotional issues she was going through. Whether this new look makes Senua come across as more innocent or seemingly more real, it's interesting to see the difference between the scowling warrior from the past and the gritty but determined woman of the present.

Triple-A Indie

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is a first of sorts for Ninja Theory. Following DmC: Devil May Cry, the developer sought to create an indie title, which it would develop and publish by itself, but which retained the triple-A production values inherent in today's market.

According to product development manager Dominic Matthews speaking to Red Bull, there is a space where different experiences could be crafted for more specific audiences but while still retaining a high level of polish in the production. Matthews said the development team is made of “20 or so developers” and that Hellblade only needs to sell a few hundreds of thousands of units to make its money back. Regardless, the creative risk that this approach entails seems to have paid off with its look and feel.

Motion Capture

When talking about Hellblade's unique production values and look, we'd be remiss not to mention the motion capture behind the game. Melina Juergens, the actress who plays Senua, actually plays the character. She's not just providing the motion capture and facial expressions – she's performing Senua's character.

This is thanks to new technology that allows the developer to capture a scene in live along with real-time in the actual game world. A development diary released by Ninja Theory prior to the game's release – and you really should check them all out – showcases Juergens moving in the real world and Senua, expressions and all, moving accordingly.

Working with Psychosis

It would be one thing if Hellblade had all of the visual wizardry possible but given the character's wrestling with mental illness, Ninja Theory went a step further in properly conveying this. Along with binaural audio that captures sound within a proper 3D space, the developer consulted with experts like Paul Fletcher, professor of Health and Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge, along with those actually suffering from psychosis.

A 25-minute documentary called “Senua's Psychosis” is also included with the game which showcases how much work was put into accurately depicting Senua's battle with psychosis and how it manifests in the voices she hears, the things she sees and how she ultimately reacts with the world around her.

Permadeath

You've probably heard about this on and off since Hellblade's release. How the game has a permadeath mechanic that will wipe out all your save progress if you die too many times. Without spoiling anything – and keep in mind that there are plenty of spoilers out there – it's not something you need to be concerned about.

Simply pick up the game, play as Senua and don't worry about the mistakes you make. Maybe you will die and lose everything. Maybe you won't. Who's really to say? Regardless, in the words of the famous Lane Roberts, “don't worry about it.”